Lancashire was visited by a senior military commander as it stepped up preparations for the arrival of the new National Cyber Force HQ in 2025 - and the message on jobs was: 'There's something for everyone'.
Local Democracy Reporter Paul Faulkner talked skills, ethics and the future of AI to delegates at the county's inaugural cyber festival.
Local Democracy Reporter Paul Faulkner talked skills, ethics and the future of AI to delegates at the county's inaugural cyber festival.
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00:07 - General, can I start by saying welcome to Lancashire.
00:34 - Thank you very much, it's great to be here.
00:36 - First question really, why Lancashire
00:38 for the future of Britain's cyber defenses?
00:41 - Well, because it's an amazing opportunity
00:43 to bring together civilian industry,
00:45 defense industry, academia,
00:48 and an amazing mission for the country,
00:51 all in one fairly clustered tight space
00:53 and to really get the benefits of that.
00:56 - What is the potential for Lancashire
00:58 and the UK cyber defense of that kind of clustering operation?
01:03 - Well, I suppose the most obvious thing is
01:04 some amazingly skilled, valuable jobs for the country,
01:08 an amazing place to live and work,
01:10 an amazing place to sort of take part
01:13 in probably one of the most exciting missions
01:15 you could imagine in the 21st century.
01:18 - For people that don't know,
01:18 the National Cyber Force is bringing together
01:20 defense and intelligence capabilities, isn't it?
01:23 How important is it to have that under a single umbrella?
01:26 Because I believe the new commander
01:28 has a military background himself.
01:30 - Yeah, so it's a partnership between strategic command
01:33 and the intelligence agencies, particularly GCHQ and SIS,
01:37 but also with our scientists
01:38 from the Defense Science and Technology Laboratories
01:40 as well, and that gives us the blend of skills
01:43 that we need to be able to counter
01:45 the multiple threats online with the appropriate tools
01:47 and the appropriate approaches.
01:49 And let's not forget that industry
01:51 are a very integrated part of that team as well.
01:54 - For people who are giving themselves
01:55 a crash course in cyber,
01:56 maybe thinking about the opportunities
01:59 that it will provide to them in Lancashire,
02:00 they might be surprised to find
02:02 all the different strands that it entails.
02:04 It's not just about defending our digital systems,
02:07 it's about defending democracy from disinformation
02:09 and that kind of thing, isn't it?
02:11 - Absolutely right, and a large number of democracies
02:15 are having elections over the next couple of years,
02:17 and ourselves and our partners around the world
02:19 will be playing our part in defending that democracy,
02:22 which is a real priority for any government.
02:25 - People might also be surprised to hear that it's about,
02:29 I mean, I've read a report recently that you published
02:31 about the cognitive impact of this kind of work,
02:33 and it's not just about disrupting other people's systems,
02:36 it's also about sort of disrupting their relationships
02:39 and their data and that kind of thing.
02:41 It's almost like a giant set of mind games really,
02:43 isn't it?
02:44 - Absolutely, so I think people mainly focus on sort of
02:47 cyber in terms of data and networks,
02:49 and they forget that it's the human beings
02:51 connected to those networks, which is really, really important.
02:54 In our case, it's really important to defend our people,
02:57 our soldiers, our sailors, aviators,
03:00 from that disinformation, that misinformation,
03:02 from people trying to shape their perceptions
03:04 and change their behavior.
03:06 But yes, people forget about the human very often in this.
03:10 - Working in that kind of environment,
03:12 how difficult would it be to step away from it
03:14 at the end of the day?
03:14 It might give people a different understanding
03:16 of exactly what's involved in a cyber role,
03:19 compared to just that traditional tech digital focus
03:22 that many people might think it revolves around.
03:25 - Yes, I mean, there's a very strong involvement
03:28 in that tech digital world,
03:30 but in something like the National Cyber Force,
03:32 of course, we're not just talking about technical roles.
03:34 They're hugely important for software developers,
03:37 coders, software engineers,
03:39 but we also have a range of roles that require
03:43 some understanding of the technology,
03:45 so mission managers, planners, overseers, analysts,
03:50 and then a whole range of non-technical roles.
03:52 We need lawyers, we need comms people,
03:54 we need HR folk who are all gonna play
03:57 their own part in the mission.
03:58 I think what you mentioned about not being able
04:00 to step away from it is interesting,
04:02 because one of the features of cyber is it's always on.
04:05 We're in absolute constant competition,
04:08 and as we would say in the Army,
04:09 we're in constant contact with the enemy.
04:11 So, and that's a function of strategic command,
04:14 the piece of defense that I belong to.
04:17 Most of our people are in constant contact,
04:20 and therefore we do need to think really carefully
04:22 about how to give people rest and make sure,
04:25 because this is a marathon, not a sprint,
04:28 to make sure they're ready for tomorrow.
04:29 - Also considerations of ethics as well, aren't they?
04:32 The report that I referred to talks about
04:34 using cyber power responsibly and being accountable.
04:37 Who, though, are you accountable to,
04:39 and who sets our national values
04:41 when it comes to things like cyber?
04:43 - So that's a great question.
04:44 I mean, in overall governance terms,
04:47 the National Cyber Force reports up
04:49 through both the Foreign Secretary and the Defense Secretary
04:52 and then it's subject to a range of oversight
04:55 through Parliament to make sure that
04:57 that ethical basis is kept in check
04:59 and that we are living up to those responsible
05:02 aspirations that we have to make sure, frankly,
05:05 that we stay being the good guys.
05:08 - On that basis, you've also got to be nimble,
05:10 haven't you, and agile, so there's got to be
05:12 some kind of operational independence, I imagine.
05:15 - Absolutely, there needs to be
05:17 some level of operational independence,
05:18 but we need to be quite clear,
05:20 we're operating right up against
05:22 the limits of what it's legal to do,
05:24 and therefore there's very appropriate
05:26 oversight mechanisms to keep us in place there.
05:30 I think the nimbleness really comes in the fact that
05:32 a lot of our adversaries aren't concerned by those ethics,
05:36 and so some people might suggest
05:37 they have a sort of head start on us,
05:39 so we need to be doubly quick to be able to counter them
05:42 whilst they may have fewer ethical concerns than we do.
05:45 - Just finally, what would be your vision
05:47 for the National Cyber Force by the end of the decade,
05:49 and particularly its place here in Lancashire?
05:51 - So, I mean, by 2025, their new home
05:54 up here in Salisbury will be established,
05:57 and we'll be going from a workforce
05:59 of hundreds at that stage to by the end of the decade,
06:01 thousands, and I think that's immensely exciting.
06:04 It's going to be a hugely important impact
06:06 for the local area, and a lot of the sort of
06:09 vision of the cyber corridor up here
06:12 will be really in play by then,
06:14 and I think that's going to be
06:15 hugely exciting for the region.
06:17 - Lieutenant General, thank you very much for talking to us.
06:19 - Thank you.
06:20 - Hi, I'm Kerry Harrison,
06:20 I lead the Lancashire Digital Skills Partnership.
06:23 Kerry, I imagine it's quite easy to enthuse young people
06:26 about getting involved in the cyber world
06:28 and the idea of being a digital spook,
06:30 but what about when it comes into contact
06:32 with the reality of the qualifications you need?
06:34 Does it get more difficult then?
06:36 - It's definitely a much more difficult challenge
06:38 when you get to the qualification side,
06:40 because there's not one route into cyber,
06:43 there's multiple routes, and it's not just about,
06:46 I mean, we talk about cyber as this homogenous thing,
06:48 and cyber is just one career,
06:50 and actually it's multiple careers,
06:52 and therefore we need people with the tech skills,
06:55 and there's a variety of roles
06:57 with needing people with tech skills,
06:58 as well as we need people who are linguists,
07:00 and behavioural psychologists,
07:01 there's a whole range of people we need,
07:03 and therefore the routes into it
07:05 are also quite not as clear as just,
07:07 you do this one course, and you do this one degree,
07:10 and therefore that's it,
07:11 because there'll be lots of different degrees you could do,
07:14 there's lots of different qualifications,
07:16 you could do a digital T-level,
07:17 you could do an apprenticeship,
07:18 there's lots of different routes,
07:20 so part of our job is to try and demystify that
07:22 and make it a really clear understanding
07:25 of the different options that you have,
07:27 and also that, just 'cause you didn't do GCSE computer science
07:30 which would be a great starting point,
07:32 but just because you haven't done it
07:33 doesn't mean that you can't then do anything else
07:36 post-16 or post-18 to actually access a career in cyber,
07:41 and similarly as an adult,
07:43 it doesn't mean that you can't do it then either,
07:45 that you couldn't then access a skills bootcamp,
07:47 or a degree, or other qualification and career change.
07:51 There is a certain amount of trying to demystify
07:53 the exact route into it,
07:56 because there isn't just one way
07:58 of becoming a cyber specialist.
08:00 So yes, it can be really exciting for young people
08:03 to actually see what's out there for them,
08:06 and the different skills that they need,
08:08 and that it can match their different preferences,
08:10 and their different, what they like about a job,
08:12 or their particular strengths,
08:14 and that there's something for just about everyone.
08:17 - Why is it such a broad sector
08:19 to be able to get into,
08:21 why are there so many capabilities that are beneficial?
08:25 - I think it's 'cause it hits,
08:27 depending on whether it's the high security level stuff
08:30 that GCHQ and partners in the NCF do,
08:34 or whether it's a business that needs cyber security
08:37 for their business,
08:39 or the general cyber hygiene that you need for yourself,
08:42 there's lots of different roles within that,
08:45 and so it's quite a vast and growing sector,
08:50 and therefore you need a diverse thought patterns,
08:55 if nothing else,
08:56 so we need people from all sorts of backgrounds,
08:58 from different thought patterns,
09:00 just to come through and actually bring,
09:03 if you're trying to solve a problem,
09:04 you want a whole range of people to be able to do that,
09:07 and so if everybody in a room has the same,
09:09 it's like that comes back to that homogenous thought,
09:11 if we all see cyber as one homogenous thing,
09:14 it's like seeing a problem,
09:15 if we all come at it from the same angle,
09:17 then actually, you might not solve it,
09:20 because we're all thinking of it in the same way,
09:21 but if you have a whole diverse group of people in a room
09:25 with lots of different skill sets,
09:27 it's easier to solve a problem,
09:28 because you've got all those diverse sets of skills
09:30 in the room, and yeah, having the tech,
09:33 so it is, in that respect,
09:35 really welcoming of that diversity,
09:37 and yeah, we do need people with the tech skills,
09:40 yes, we need lots of people with digital skills,
09:43 but you need people to understand cultures
09:45 and behaviours of people,
09:46 to inform how they react to situations,
09:49 for me, it is about starting early,
09:51 so that they understand and don't close doors to themselves,
09:54 and I don't mean that in a qualification sense,
09:57 but also in that kind of shutting doors,
09:59 in that people like me don't do jobs like that,
10:02 and it's that kind of, actually,
10:03 people like you do do jobs like that, and--
10:06 - The mentality of the individual.
10:06 - Yeah, so it's that kind of actually opening the rise
10:09 to say, yeah, people like you could do jobs like that,
10:12 you know, people in one part of the county,
10:14 or a particular gender, or people,
10:16 a particular background, absolutely,
10:18 these jobs are all for you.
10:20 - My name is Rebecca Robinson,
10:21 I work for Lancaster University,
10:23 and I lead something called
10:24 the Centre for Digital Innovation.
10:27 - Rebecca, how important is it
10:28 to have a diverse workforce in the cyber sector?
10:32 Are you at risk of missing out on some of the best people,
10:34 if there are groups of people that don't feel
10:37 that cyber is a role for them?
10:39 - Yeah, diversity within the cyber sector
10:42 is absolutely critical.
10:45 If we think about any kind of problem solving,
10:49 if we all approach it from the same perspective,
10:51 if we all try to approach that challenge
10:54 with that same mindset,
10:55 we're only gonna come up with one solution.
10:57 Now, that might be the best solution
10:58 for a particular challenge,
10:59 or for a particular type of person,
11:01 and the way that they interact with their world,
11:03 but actually, that doesn't make it
11:04 the right solution for everybody,
11:07 and it also doesn't necessarily allow us
11:09 to be coming up with the most creative solutions,
11:12 actually, by enabling us to think about a diverse workforce.
11:15 So, this is people,
11:17 so I'm obviously female within this sector,
11:20 it's quite a male-dominated sector,
11:22 so we're trying to introduce more women to the area.
11:25 - Why is that, do you think?
11:25 Why is it so male-dominated?
11:27 - I think traditionally, it looks like it's a male role.
11:32 Quite often, all STEM subjects,
11:34 science, technology, engineering, mathematics,
11:36 look like male roles,
11:38 but there's actually no good reason for that.
11:39 There's no manual labor, there's nothing physical
11:42 that's required that requires a male physique, necessarily,
11:45 to be able to overcome these.
11:46 Actually, all women can do them.
11:48 - And isn't the irony that actually,
11:50 the stats show that women and girls
11:51 are better at those subjects than boys,
11:53 slightly marginally?
11:54 - I would agree, definitely, definitely.
11:57 I mean, we need a whole bunch of different skills, right?
11:59 So, we don't just need to have technical skills.
12:02 We don't just want people who are doing coding.
12:05 We want to make sure that we've also got people
12:07 who understand people, psychology.
12:09 That user interface with technology
12:11 is really, really critical.
12:12 And if we think about cybersecurity,
12:14 the biggest risk factor is the human, actually.
12:16 It's the person in that mix.
12:18 Over 90% of breaches are as a result of human error.
12:21 So, we need to understand people.
12:22 So, psychology's really, really important.
12:24 But when we're also thinking about people,
12:25 we should be thinking about management
12:27 and leadership skills.
12:28 We need to be thinking about, actually,
12:30 how can we make sure that if we're running a business,
12:33 that it's as secure as possible?
12:34 How can you embed culture within that business
12:37 to make sure that cybersecurity is something
12:38 that people consider irrelevant of their role,
12:40 whether it be a technical role or not?
12:43 And so, that's really important.
12:45 Anyone who enjoys problem solving,
12:48 puzzle solving, all those types of things
12:51 are really good skills to be able to embed
12:54 within problem solving and cyber challenges.
12:57 So, we're always looking for a more diverse workforce.
13:01 And I think that is, I mentioned gender there,
13:04 but I'm talking about a whole bunch of different diversity.
13:06 So, neurodiverse, it's really, really important
13:09 that we also kind of open up that world
13:11 to people who are neurodiverse.
13:13 If you think about certain people
13:15 who've got a neurodiverse,
13:17 they might have hyperfocus.
13:19 That can be such a talent.
13:21 It can literally be the crown, if you like,
13:26 for them to be able to focus on something so in-depth.
13:30 - How difficult is it to get groups of people
13:32 from diverse backgrounds
13:34 that wouldn't necessarily gravitate towards cyber
13:36 into that kind of space at an academic level?
13:40 - It's tricky.
13:41 It's really, really tricky.
13:42 But events like today are really, really important.
13:44 So, by bringing in pupils from schools and colleges,
13:49 we hope to just kind of give that little bit of spark,
13:52 ignite something in them
13:54 that maybe kind of shows them an area of interest.
13:56 Cyber is a huge growth area for Lancashire.
14:00 We've got GCHQ's headquarters now in Manchester.
14:03 We've got the launch of the National Cyber Force
14:05 in Salisbury.
14:06 Lancaster University is a National Cyber Security Centre
14:10 triple recognized for our research and our education.
14:15 And we also have got our first ever UK's Cyber MBA,
14:20 which has also been recognized by the NCSC as excellent.
14:23 So, all of that combined, from school kind of delivery
14:28 right the way through up to kind of master's level
14:30 is really, really important to be able to kind of spark that
14:34 and allow that talent growth.
14:36 - I'm Andy Walker and I'm Chief Exec
14:38 of Lancashire Enterprise Partnership.
14:40 - Andy, what kind of a ripple effect do you think
14:42 the National Cyber Force headquarters coming to Lancashire
14:46 will have on the sector in Lancashire really?
14:48 Because obviously by definition,
14:50 we're dealing with a sector that is global
14:53 in terms of reach and technology.
14:54 Does it really matter that this is on our doorstep
14:56 in Lancashire?
14:57 - It's ironic, isn't it?
14:58 That something that's so effectively based in the cloud
15:03 and digital, that physical proximity does feel
15:06 as though it's important.
15:07 By its very nature, you know, the secrecy
15:13 and the integrity that surrounds the operation,
15:16 the way in which the UK has chosen
15:19 to deliver this kind of activity,
15:21 makes it slightly sort of opaque for businesses
15:25 as to how they might engage with it.
15:27 And I think we've got a balance.
15:31 There's clearly talent and there are clearly companies
15:34 that already within Lancashire that can play into this.
15:38 There are clearly companies that will benefit
15:40 from the growing digital and cyber capabilities that exist
15:45 because cyber is pervasive across all of Lancashire's
15:50 key sectors now.
15:51 And it is a skill set and a technology
15:54 that needs to be adopted universally.
15:57 But I think for the first time,
16:00 what we're seeing in terms of a ripple effect,
16:02 the supply chain and companies who might potentially work
16:09 with National Cyber Force come forward proactively
16:12 and say, whereabouts in Lancashire could we locate?
16:15 Where can we access skills?
16:18 What type of facilities are available?
16:20 How can we hook up with your local universities?
16:23 So this feels like a real unprecedented opportunity for us.
16:27 - Is Lancashire well-placed to take advantage
16:29 of that opportunity, do you feel?
16:31 - Lancashire's already well-placed,
16:32 but we need to work hard to surely maximise
16:35 that opportunity.
16:36 It's a competitive world.
16:38 As you've said, this is a global industry
16:41 and we are trying to establish a new node,
16:45 a new location, a new cluster, which it's not just Lancashire
16:49 it's an investment which means benefit
16:52 for the whole of the North West of England.
16:54 And we need to work with colleagues in Greater Manchester
16:57 through the North West Cyber Corridor
17:00 and make sure we fully maximise those opportunities.
17:03 That's around things like skills,
17:05 that's around things like research
17:08 and making sure our universities are plumbed in.
17:12 - One of the challenges that National Cyber Force
17:14 itself acknowledges is the need to be able to scale up.
17:17 Do you think Lancashire will be able
17:18 to rise to that challenge?
17:21 - I do.
17:22 I think we're really well-placed,
17:24 both in terms of the quality of life offer that we have
17:28 and in terms of the way in which we can attract
17:32 and retain skills and capabilities within the area.
17:35 It's not the first time we've seen clusters grow.
17:40 We've got a really interesting set of digital capabilities
17:43 and elect tech clusters developing
17:46 in other parts of the Northern parts of the county
17:48 and up into South Cumbria.
17:51 And that access, which runs up to Barrow
17:55 and the new working orders that are in that part
17:59 of the region is gonna add scale and volume and demand,
18:04 which would naturally draw people in.
18:07 - Part of this event is the launch
18:10 of the Lancashire Cyber Partnership, isn't it?
18:12 Now, partnership, stakeholders,
18:14 they're those buzzwords, aren't they?
18:16 And sometimes they can feel a bit meaningless,
18:17 but in a sector like this,
18:19 there are just so many strands to it.
18:20 It really is gonna be important to collaborate
18:23 and work together, isn't it?
18:24 - Absolutely.
18:25 I think you see just with the National Cyber Force itself,
18:31 you need the site where they're going,
18:34 you need transport and communications to be right,
18:38 you need places to house the staff that will be working there.
18:43 But as I say, you also need those links with academia
18:46 and need those links with the skills base of Lancashire
18:49 to make these things work.
18:51 And it isn't purely a talking shop.
18:53 These are organisations that are genuinely putting their
18:56 hand in their pocket and investing in these things
18:59 because it's good for their institutions
19:01 and it's good for the region as a whole.
19:04 - None of this is gonna land in Lancashire's lap, is it?
19:06 It's gonna have to work hard to make this a success.
19:09 - I think we just need to keep up the momentum
19:11 and we need to show that we are a capable
19:15 and proficient partner who's able to respond to this demand.
19:20 I'd say for the first time in my career,
19:23 we are seeing a level of interest that's significantly more.
19:28 We're being approached around,
19:31 where can I find office accommodation?
19:32 We're being approached around,
19:34 how can I align myself with local universities?
19:39 Or even how can I invest and sponsor community events
19:45 and develop a footprint in the area and get to know Lancashire?
19:49 - Rob, I understand you're quite passionate about the idea
19:52 of cyber being incorporated into various different
19:54 disciplines and academic subjects, aren't you?
19:57 Why do you think it's important for that to happen?
19:59 - Cyber is going to affect everybody.
20:02 We're no longer in the land of geeks in the bedroom.
20:05 So everybody has some digital device,
20:10 some access or manipulation of computers.
20:14 And everyone needs to be aware of it.
20:16 Cyber security is something that affects all of our lives,
20:20 particularly at university where we handle
20:22 large quantities of data.
20:24 We have our research systems and platforms.
20:27 We need to think about cyber security.
20:29 How do we make sure that they're safe and secure?
20:31 But then when we translate that out into industry,
20:33 if we look at people working on CNC machines
20:36 or in a garage forecourt where there's videos
20:39 or there's control systems,
20:40 the risk of those being compromised,
20:44 whether it's through deliberate cyber attack
20:46 or inadvertent use of the wrong sort of systems,
20:50 it's going to affect everybody.
20:51 So we need to be aware.
20:52 We need to understand the risks.
20:55 We need to understand the basic ways
20:56 of mitigating against them
20:58 and where that potential might be.
21:00 - Do you think the population is ready for that kind of
21:04 submersion, if for want of a better word,
21:06 into the world of cyber?
21:07 Or are there not some people who would quite happily
21:09 devolve it to a theoretical higher power
21:12 and hope that they were acting in your best interests?
21:15 - I think the problem is when we devolve it
21:17 to a higher power or we defer it, we're mystifying it.
21:21 It becomes something to be worried about,
21:24 something to be scared of.
21:25 When we have some understanding,
21:26 when we have some knowledge of what's going on,
21:28 what the risks are,
21:30 we can make sensible choices for ourselves
21:32 and we can carry out our own protection.
21:35 If we look at our younger generation
21:37 and I've got a 14-year-old boy,
21:40 they're very aware, they're very understanding
21:42 of how technology works, the interconnectedness of things.
21:47 They need to be aware of the risks
21:49 and how to manage their own personal identity
21:51 and privacy within those systems.
21:54 So by putting it to a higher power,
21:56 we're simply making it mysterious and slightly worrying
22:00 by taking control of it, by understanding,
22:02 by empowering people.
22:04 We give people the ability to really think about it
22:06 and use it and embed it in what they do,
22:09 protecting their own safety, but also giving them
22:11 the peace of mind and the certainty
22:13 that they know what's going on.
22:14 - Now, one of your titles, quite interesting,
22:17 Professor of Extended Reality.
22:19 Just explain to me exactly what that means
22:22 and is that really a world that we're all going
22:23 to have to inhabit shortly?
22:25 Or are we inhabiting it already and we just don't know it?
22:30 - My research for 30 years has been
22:33 in the world of virtual reality, of augmented reality,
22:37 particularly large-scale immersive systems
22:41 that we can occupy and we can interact
22:44 without thinking about keyboards or mice directly.
22:48 In recent years, what I've become very aware of
22:51 is the vast quantities of data around cybersecurity.
22:54 So a lot of my work takes cybersecurity data,
22:58 applies AI, machine learning, data science
23:01 to analyze it, break it down into systems and models,
23:06 and then I use the immersive technologies
23:08 that I develop to put people inside it
23:11 so that we can have sensible collaborations around data.
23:15 And really what we're trying to do is put a person
23:17 in the loop to help them understand
23:19 and explain how the AI systems are working,
23:22 but also do something that AI and machine learning
23:25 struggles with, to spot emerging trends.
23:28 In archeology, there's very often a phrase
23:30 that three stones in the ground make a wall,
23:33 and we have the same principles.
23:34 So if we put data into a model or a format
23:37 that presents it, we can start to build
23:39 those hypotheses ourselves, see those links,
23:43 and then take them back into more structured science
23:47 to explore them, to verify them, and to try them out.
23:50 - The way you talk there, you sound like there is still
23:52 quite a role for the human in this space,
23:54 which might surprise some people
23:56 because the talk lately of AI and the future
23:59 seems to suggest that humans are almost going
24:02 to be subordinate to the systems.
24:05 - I think there's a lot of fear about the idea
24:07 of one AI system offensively attacking
24:10 another one that's actively defending it.
24:12 At the end of the day, we need to be able to understand,
24:15 we need to be able to explain.
24:17 If we're going to operate in a safe and ethical environment,
24:20 we need to actually be able to explain
24:23 what our AI platforms are doing,
24:25 and explain them to other people to give confidence,
24:29 to ensure that we have trust in those systems.
24:32 - But ultimately, our AI platforms are very good
24:35 at responding to what they've been trained to look for.
24:38 They're very bad at spotting emerging trends.
24:41 - Is that right?
24:42 'Cause you wouldn't get that impression, would you,
24:43 from listening to the talk that there is in the media?
24:45 You get the impression that AI is kind of
24:48 the highest form of analysis.
24:52 - It is a very strong form of analysis.
24:54 We train an AI platform on a training set of data.
24:57 Once it's trained to a level of accuracy,
25:00 of precision that we want it to be,
25:02 typically into the 90% accuracy,
25:05 we then use it again and again and again
25:08 on the same problem.
25:10 Developing systems that can respond,
25:13 particularly to the creative and randomness
25:16 of our own brains and our activities
25:18 and the inspirational thought that people have,
25:21 is very hard.
25:22 So actually having people in the loop
25:25 who can see and respond to those,
25:28 and giving them information in a form
25:30 that's very accessible,
25:31 that they don't have to put a huge amount
25:32 of cognition behind understanding,
25:34 so they can spend more time thinking
25:37 about what they're seeing and manipulating the data,
25:40 is a huge advantage.
25:41 It means we can respond faster.
25:43 We can spot new trends as they're emerging,
25:46 and in very early stages of emergence,
25:49 and work to them very quickly.
25:51 - Is it fair to say human and AI strengths combined
25:55 would be the ideal vision of the future?
25:58 - I think one of the best ways to describe it is,
26:01 I have a colleague here at Central Lancashire,
26:04 who looks at AI and where it's going,
26:07 and their view is very much that what AI will do
26:11 is give us our best possible day every day,
26:13 responding to us, helping us, assisting us in the data,
26:16 helping us with the analysis,
26:18 but it's still essential that we're there
26:20 to do the cognitive and creative thought
26:23 that's required to create that inspirational connection
26:26 of ideas together that enables us to investigate,
26:29 to analyse, to draw new hypotheses,
26:31 to develop new theories.
26:33 - Positive to end on there, Rob.
26:35 A future for the human.
26:36 Thanks very much indeed for that.